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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: lash · foot · track · game · cold · bowl · file · wax

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. cold — not warm
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. track — to keep track
  12. file — a tool
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. track — a song
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. cold — an illness
  17. foot — a measure
  18. file — a document
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. wax — to grow
  21. track — a path
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bowl — a football final

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com